Life's Pain
by Lost-Remembrance
Summary: When Duo is turned into a neko and finds himself living with Heero on a undercover mission, he witnesses the abuse Heero endures. What can he do to stop it? 1X2
1. I keep on cryin'

Author's Note: Okay, here this goes...my first yaoi story. Ever. Shellie-kun's gonna kills me, but hey! What the hell, might as well do one! Okay, yeah...I love reviews and this story might get taken off if not liked. I don't tend to write stories like this so I'm gonna wing it. Get it, Wing it? Like Heero's gundam, yeah...um...crappy 'joke'.

Also: In later chapters, this will have abuse and Duo will be...it's a surprise...shhhh!

Disclaimer: I don't own a single Gundam Wing character.

Life's Pain

Chapter One:

The silent Wing pilot hopped out of his mobile suit Gundam named Wing with ease as he landed like a cat on two feet instead of four and in a crouch. He looked up and glared slightly to see violet eyes staring at him intently.

He had just gotten back from a mission and luckily, the blue jean coat hid the make shift bandages covering his torso. It had been worse than he expected and who would have known it was an ambush? "What do you want?" The teenager asked the other teenager whom nicknamed himself 'Shinigami' with an icy tone no other human or person could match.

"Nuthin'" He grinned cheerily. "Just wanted to make sure that you were alright." A tinge of concern was easily seen in his eyes as Heero brushed it off with a shrug.

"I'm fine." He muttered as he got up, feeling his muscles slightly cramp and contract from excerption. 'Figures.' He growled mentally as he berated himself.

"Really?" Duo questioned his comrade and the teenager he secretly loved. "Bull." He said, noticing the way the pilot slightly swayed.

"Duo." Heero growled warningly as if he was trekking on thin ice.

"No way," Duo said, taking a step towards the pilot. "Let me help you." His violet eyes almost pleaded this.

Heero's hands quivered as his body began to shake uncontrollably in very small motions unnoticed to the untrained eye.

"What the hell happened?!" Duo said as he walked up in swift strides to the darker brunet pilot.

"Nothing...just—" Heero took a sharp intake of breath when he felt Duo tug on his jacket. "Let go!" Heero raised his voice louder as he turned his pain into anger.

"No." Duo said sternly, his eyes as icy as Heero's. Heero's chest was lifted in heaves as he looked closer and could now see his limps shaking as his head lowered drowsily.

"Duo..." Heero was about to protest when his body seemed to just shut down.

"Heero!" Duo caught the stoic and restless pilot in his arms as he pitched forward, breaths coming raggedly and shallow at the same time. His forehead glistened with sweat, as he seemed to fight control over staying conscious.

His cobalt eyes were half-open and slowly they slid down more as he let his body shut down. Duo ripped off his shirt but the pain seemed to numb him now of everything but the pain itself.

"Heero!" Duo shouted as he tried shaking the pilot, some crimson building up on his callused arms from the open lacerations further aggravated. "You have to stay awake!" 'If he falls asleep, that'll be even worse!' His mind sped up as if on stimulants, trying to think of something to help the one he became infatuated with.

"What the hell happened man?!" Duo tried to question the pilot to keep him awake. "This mission of yours was to check up on your foster family 'cause J wanted you to stay with them while you completed a couple months undercover? How could that go wrong?"

"J...gave...custody..." Heero managed out between the growing darkness that was beckoning to him. He smiled slightly when the darkness seemed to give him such a warm embrace. It smiled at him back and seemed to motion for him to follow.

"Heero, stay awake!"

"G-go...m...en..." Heero whispered as he stopped moving and his eye's dropped and closed as his head fell towards the side a bit.

"HEERO!" Duo screamed as he shook the pilot by his shoulders with a frantic look in his eye.

"Duo," Quatre questioned, appearing with an annoyed Trowa at his side, with worry at his braided friend. "What's wrong?"

"It's Heero Q!" Duo shouted, trying to lift the pilot and shocked at how light the teenager was. 'Damn that training! Though at least he's not suffering from malnutrition...' he sighed mentally. 'Hopefully. He may be thoguh...'

"Oh my god!" Quatre shouted, rushing over with a now slightly worried Trowa to help lift the young boy and not jar his wounds any further. "Let's get him to the treatment facility right now!" He said with worry as he rushed off to the area where Sally was currently located.

As they rushed through the hallway, the limp form of Heero stirred slightly as the door slammed open and a shocked Sally looked at his sudden intrusion. Wufei was sitting in a corner and looked up from a document he was currently reading over.

"Duo?" Sally said with surprise. Wufei rolled his eyes in agrivation and looked back at his document, not even bothering to look at the bundle in Duo's arm.

"Heero needs medical attention, now!" Quatre said through gasps as he finally cuahgt up with Duo who was taking large strides into the room. Wufei's head jerked up from the folder and looked with narrowed eyes at the form of the Wing pilot.

"What happened?" Wufei questioned and raised an eyebrow at Trowa in the doorway with some concern in his eyes also. No one responded and Wufei turned to look at Duo with a raised eyebrow.

"Lay him here," Sally commanded as she gestured to a cot in her office and she got out some supplies she would need.

"'Kay..." Duo gently laid the teenager who turned his head a bit onto the white clothed bed. He let out a almost silent groan as Duo's finger's seemed to gently tear off the shirt.

"Duo," Sally said with warning as she turned to look at him with all her supplies in hand. "I'll need to do a medical examination."

Duo opened his mouth but the sound of a cell phone filled the air. Everyone fumbled in their pockets and pulled theirs out, only to discover it was no ones in the room. Duo looked at Heero and reached into his jean coat's pocket to pull out a black device that was chirruping away to a buzzing sound.

Duo flipped the phone open and the digital readout showed a letter, 'J'. Duo growled slightly as he opened a connection, hoping to figure out what was going on.

"Heero?" J's voice said over the slightly crackled connection.

Duo didn't say anything, but took a deep breath, trying to sound like Heero's voice. "Yes?"

"02?" J questioned. "Well," The old man cackled. "What a lovely surprise. So, has G sent you your mission yet?" He pried.

Duo growled slightly, how would J know if he had a mission or not. 'Oh, yeah. He's one of the doctors...' In truth, J was much different from the slightly kinder doctors. The only ones he seemed to favor were Heero, whose ass he worked off, and Relena, whom he dubbed as no comment in his mind.

Heero's cobalt eyes flashed open and he looked at Duo, who held his cell phone and lunged for it. The one thing his mind registered was 'Shimita!' and 'Crap, they know Japanese, or a little bit...'

"Was?" He questioned in perfect German, which none of them knew, into the cell phone. A German response came back.

"Heero, wie gehts?" J questioned simply.

"Gut." He said sharply. J questioned further. Heero's eyes narrowed slightly at this comment he made and then he responded back in a more defeated tone, "Ja."

"Gut." J told him as Heero disconnected the link.

"What was that all about?!" Duo said with a fiery rage at the injured friend of his.

"Nothing." Heero said sharply. He realized where he was and glared coldly at Duo he swung his feet over the bed and Duo lunged for him to try and strap him to the bed. He seriously needed medical attention.

"Heero! You HAVE to let Sally treat you!" Duo barked at him as Heero dodged him.

"Nein." Heero snorted. "I have a mission to get to." He easily dodged Duo and was about to walk out of the room when Trowa stopped him, but looked at Heero and knew he wasn't in a good mood today.

Note:

Wie gehts: How are you?

Gut: good

Ja: Yes

Shimita: do I have to explain? .

Nein: No

Was: What

That be about it, other than the normal: review please, it keeps me writing and happy. Oo

Red Tail


	2. Why are you so Cold?

Chapter 2

"I have a mission to get to." He easily dodged Duo and was about to walk out of the room when Trowa stopped him, but looked at Heero and knew he wasn't in a good mood today."

That was how it went; the day that it first happened. Relena and Duo had been having a secret war over Heero's heart for a very long time, sometimes even daring to flirt with the stoic pilot who glared at the flirter. Who had time for love in the days of war?

After a certain moment when Relena was most infuriated with Duo, Heero was away on a mission. Sadly, the heat went to her head, which ended fatally with the braided pilot.

So, this is how he ended up this way. A cat. Yep, a cat that got kicked out of his own house since the other pilots didn't know who the hell he was. Figures, who would recognize a black cat (at least it was black, hence the 'Shinigami' nickname he dubbed himself with) and he had violet eyes.

So he wandered the streets. He had been traveling, sneaking onto shuttles, and being nice to children whose parents let them take him along since he was so well mannered. Then he found himself on the steps where Heero was currently residing.

Dr. J had given his previous foster parents custody over him for a month. A month or more to do his mission. Then he would be back with the other guys at the safe house that they had gotten, with Quatre's money of course!

He blinked and looked at the foreboding house. Heero would be attending Gabriel school, Relena Darlain's private school. A shadowed figure that was hunched against the chilling wind walked past him in the dark, walking up the footsteps to the door. The black colored neko followed the figure, blinking as he realized that the figure was none other than the said pilot!

"Meow!" He let out, mentally berating himself when he realized that he couldn't speak English, or even bits and pieces of Japanese to the bleak-looking pilot. 'What is wrong with him?' He saw the bruises riddling Heero's arms and his body.

Prussian eyes blinked as he turned his body, his bangs and features still as wild as ever. The light in his eyes seemed to be lingering slightly, what put it out left Duo questioning. "Mrow!" He let out again, pouncing on the person like a cat would, considering he was, and nudged his head against Heero's jeans.

He noted that Heero's eyes softened and he bent down, not even bothering to wince at the pain he felt. 'Damned people.' His mind whispered; the ferocity behind the words long gone. J had told him, no matter what, not to fail this mission. There was no way that he could, or would.

Heero's cold hand petted Duo's head and he heard the black cat purr at this. He let a weak smile come to his lips and he bent down, bringing the cat up as he stood and opened the door. Duo snuggled close to the cold body of Heero, trying his best to warm him.

The lights were out in the house, the other's having gone to sleep. The clock ticked away and the dismantled look in the kitchen showed that his father had come home in a drunken state, again.

He sighed quietly, being careful not to wake its occupants and Heero bent down, placed the cat on all fours, and took off his shoes, motioning for the cat to follow. Heero was amazed that it did, as if he understood what he was saying. There was no collar, so it was a stray. For some reason, this cat reminded him of someone.

He crept up the stairs and opened the door to his room, the black blur passing by him quickly and jumping onto his bed with a quiet 'meow.'

"Well," Heero said to the cat queitly. "I guess that I'll have to give you a name." He looked into those violet eyes and was shocked by their intensity. He could only think of one word, "Duo..." He said subconsciously.

The cat's ears perked up and he pounced off the bed and rubbed against Heero's leg. Heero's eyes softened a bit. "So, you like that name?" He questioned, getting a nodding head in return to the question. "Duo it is then." He said as the cat jumped onto the bed again.

The sound of the door opening sent Heero's nerves astray. He gulped inaudibly and turned around as the cat on the bed hissed. The face that he met was of a very angry foster father. The drunken stench still reeked on his breath, making Heero slightly retch at the stench.

"Well, well, where have hic ye be hic been?" He questioned through hiccups.

"No where." Heero said with a dead tone in his voice. A punch was his reply back. He staggered slightly at the angle it was thrown at but refused to stand down.

Heero straightened out and already knew that bruise would be another for the collection. He heard a hiss from the bed.

'Who the hell does he think he is?!' Duo's whole form was shaking with anger. He couldn't take it and let hisses out as he barred his teeth. He then pounced on the man but was caught in arms that were riddled in bruises.

"Why do you have a damned cat in here?!" The man bellowed, his wife already awake and hiding fearfully under the covers.

Heero protected the cat with his body, Duo feeling the lurch of each hit connecting with the teenager's rib cage. Heero fell to his knees after the fighting stopped. Or more like abuse since Heero did nothing to retaliate.

'H-heero!' Duo's mind whispered as if the boy that was holding him was glass. The cat looked at the boy with concerned eyes and Heero opened his eyes and looked at him. He set him on the floor, feeling the cat purr in his arms.

"I guess that you shouldn't try that again." Heero told the cat. "I'd never be able to live with myself if I let another animal die because of my mistakes..." The image of Mary's charred and burned body in his mind made him close his eyes. He opened them and got under the covers, letting the slight warmth that the threadbare blanket hold warm him.

'Other animal?' Duo questioned as he climbed under the covers with Heero who had thrown off his shirt and was now wearing the attire of boxers. Duo was sure he would have blushed at the fit form of Heero, but there were more matters at hand here. He crawled under the covers, snuggling close to Heero's cold form, hoping it would help warm him.

Heero moved closer to the warmth without even knowing it. The boy was already in a restless sleep. Duo would have until he heard the door creak open again.

TBC

Author's note:

Well, that's that! The question is, who will it be? His mother or his father! Dun dun dun! I'll try and add more romance but, yeah. I can't write that for crap so I'm gonna be practicing! OO hopefully it won't be too...fluffish as I say. Fluff romance. Love reviews, they keep me writing. You see...Shellie doesn't want me to update this because it's a yaoi fic, but oh well! People want me to update and have suggestions, please let me know!


	3. Tears of Blood

Chapter Three: (sorry for the long update, I'm trying to write as fast as I can to update all my stories for the holiday seasons!)

The door was silently opened and Duo's cold violet eyes perked up, ready to take on any challenge that dared try and hurt Heero. Heero had protected him from that man, his "foster father".

A smaller silhouetted frame appeared in the doorway, shifting slightly under the weight of something. A pair of soft blue eyes stared into Duo's violet eyes and he felt reassured by this person's eyes that they would do no harm to the one he loved.

A silky hand landed lightly on Heero's forehead and the teenager opened groggy eyes to see light blue eyes that spoke volumes in the dark silence.

"Heero…" She whispered, her motherly instinct kicking in as she lifted a heavy comforter and placed it on the boy's cold form. She brushed away a stubborn bang that was covering his lovely eyes. "How are you feeling?" She questioned.

"Fine," His voice cracked a little when he talked though it held no emotion in it, nor pain from the newly forming bruises on his wiry form.

"Who's this?" She questioned kindly but softly, so as not to awaken the sleeping drunk in her bedroom.

"A cat that found its way here," He said softly. "I named him Duo." A brief flash of something in his eyes caught his mother's attention when he said the name.

"Duo? Such a good name for a cat, he looks so handsome." She commented lightly to her 'son'.

"Mother…" She was the only one that he had ever called that and she felt pride with that. "Are you alright?" He questioned, looking at the black eye she sported.

"Yes," She knew the 'but what about work?' question would come up and she continued softly as the wind, "It's nothing that cover-up won't handle." She felt tears sting her eyes as she drew him into a hug, Duo in the middle of it, not minding at all until he felt water fall onto his fur. He tried looking up to see what was wrong but to no avail.

"M-mother…?" He blinked in shock and awe, not minding some of the pain he had as some of the more painful spots on his body was hit.

"I'm so sorry, Heero." She sobbed quietly to him as he patted her back slightly, trying to comfort her. "H-He said he was so sorry, and everything was perfect until-until he s-started d-d-drinking again…!" Tears trailed down her cheeks, coursing down her cheek indents like rivers would.

Prussian eyes widened slightly and he blinked and then he felt them lower and soften. "I'm sure it'll get better, it did before." He soothed her quietly.

"But then it always came back, again and again." She said, calming down a bit. "I'm afraid, Heero." She said to him, "I'm afraid for you and for your safety."

Heero looked at her; "I'll be fine, I'm sure of it." She told her quietly, avoiding her concerned and questioning eyes.

She nodded slightly as she got up, leaving the room silently, her thoughts still tangled and questioning herself. 'I'm afraid for him, how can he live like this? One day **he** might end up killing him!' She twisted her hands in a frustrated manner and she opened the door, looking at her snoring husband sprawled on the bed.

Back in his room, Heero looked down at his wrists, the faint slightly raised lines healing. He avoided the eyes of the cat, which seemed to hold more intelligence than any other cat he'd seen. He reached across his bed and opened a drawer, taking out a blade. He closed his eyes and cut his wrists slightly in the dark, Duo's nocturnal eyes widening as he jumped at the teenager.

"Don't." His new mater said to him, warning him not to come near. His task was already done and he took some wrappings and tied them around his bleeding wrists. "Don't…" He was able to whisper before once again falling into a dreamless and haunted sleep, which added to the dark lines under his eyes.

Duo's eyes looked worriedly at Heero, gulping slightly at the lump forming in his throat. How could he sit here and do nothing to try and stop him, stop him and his father?!

He heard murmuring in the boy's turmoil-filled sleep and jerked his head, his cat ears picking up what the reckless teenager was whispering; "It's all my fault, it's my fault…"

'Heero,' Duo's mind sobbed. 'It's not your fault, it's not your fault.' If he weren't a cat, he'd surely have cried but sorrow filled mewing was all that escaped.

Author's note:

Thank you everyone for the reviews, the next chapter will be a flashback on what happened between Duo and Relena. Thank you everyone for the support! Those who thought Heero's mother would enter were correct. I'm tying this in with the psychological behavior of an abusive relationship, etc. Wow, that was a mouthful! Anyhow, please write reviews on what you thought of this chapter, suggestions, mistakes, stupidness on my part, etc. BTW, Heero may seem OOC, sorry bout that if it's so (I think it is).


	4. Take Me Away, Far Away

Author's note: Thank you to those who did review the last three chapters, they make me so happy! RT

**Chapter Four: **sorry once again for the long update, it takes a lot of energy to write so many stories (sigh). Anyhow, here y'all go:

Heero opened his eyes and closed them, regretting to what he had wakened up to. He heard muffled shouts and then he heard crying. He got up and swung his feet over his bed and then he looked down at his wrists, throwing on a long sleeved sweatshirt before tearing off the bandages to his wrists and only seeing the dried blood.

He sighed as he put on some pants over his boxers and quickly hid the comforter that his mother had brought in for him the night before.

He walked into the kitchen and saw his mother, crying in a broken heap. He bent down and he noticed that a black fur ball had also come dashing out, looking with sadness or curiosity at his foster mother. He drew he into a slight hug and she pulled him closer, clinging to him like a lifeline.

"It's okay," He told her emotionlessly. "Everything will be all right." He whispered, doubting his words. Everything wouldn't be all right.

"He loves us." His mother whispered. "I just forgot to go shopping that's all." She said, telling lies to herself, her son, and the cat. "He still loves us. He'll always love us."

"…" Heero closed his eyes, not knowing the right words to say or not to say. Duo-neko purred and lightly licked Heero's foster mother's hand. She looked down at the cat with soft eyes before she pat him lightly on the head.

"What's your new friend's name?" She questioned, drawing her thoughts away from the black eye she now sported. She had a few bruises and some shallow scrapes on her arms. Duo-neko purred as he rubbed against Heero.

"His names Duo." Heero spoke quietly. He pulled himself into a much more comfortable position on the floor next to his mother and then he leaned against her and she against him.

Duo-neko meowed and smiled inwardly softly. The father must have left already, seeing at how the look of peace was in their eyes slightly. "Heero," His foster mother said quietly as her eyes held a determination like he had never seen her have before.

"Hn?" He questioned as he looked back slightly.

"We're leaving." She said as she got up and turned around to stare at her foster child who was staring back at him.

"What?" He questioned, not really quite understanding. 'Leaving? Just like that?'

"Why are you just sitting there? We're leaving. We're not going to put up with this anymore." She said, eyes tearing up slightly. "He-h-" She faltered slightly. "He doesn't love us." She said, her voice straining the words.

Duo purred and then the thought of that man made him hiss. The two people turned to look at the cat, Duo-neko. The mother raised questioning eyebrows but shrugged it off.

Duo-neko smirked inwardly, 'That man isn't getting' away from Shinigami so easily…' He said, already starting to plot before strong arms picked him up. He looked up and if cat's could blush, he would be brighter than a rose.

He was in the strong muscular arms of Heero Yuy who looked down at his cat with the shrug, walking off to his room at a faster pace since his mother kept on shouting at him to hurry up.

"Your father could be coming any time shortly, grab everything that you can." She called off a stool as she took a coffee can and her purse. She looked inside the jar and silently thanked the gods that she had always kept money, a lot of money, just in case.

Heero came out, Duo-neko tailing him and Heero with a backpack containing his laptop and other important items with his gun tucked between his waistband. Duo rubbed against Heero's legs before dashing off to the waiting car and Heeor's mother. Heero smiled as he nodded slightly, stepping outside the door and leaving the ill-bearing house.

Duo-neko happily purred on Heero's lap, noting how easily it was to be pleased with the stoic boy around him. He remembered the many times that he had gotten into trouble and then he thought of the Peacecraft girl.

"Duo," Relena's high-pitched voice rang out, making him wince at the "perfect soldier's-perfect pacifist stalker". 'I'll get rid of him **this** time.' She declared to herself with determination. "Duo, I wanted to know of your feeling's for Heero." She demanded, stretching the word 'feeling' so that the slightly slow braided boy could get her point.

Duo sighed inwardly, dummy's mask in place. "Huh? Feeling's? Whadaya mean by that?" He joked lightly, wanted to get a gun and shoot the girl.

"Do you love him?" She commanded, her patience wearing thin.

"Why would I tell you?" he smirked darkly at the way her face contorted. 'Wonder what would happen if she got botox.' He thought.

Relena's eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at the man before her. Too bad Duo Maxwell was used to that sort of thing; after being around with the guy who gave a new meaning to 'death-glare' nothing compared to that of the perfect soldier's.

Duo yawned. "Look, you're really startin' ta bug me." He growled as she glared back even more though the action was futile.

She smirked as she pulled out a pen and flipped her hair. She pushed a button on the end and then took out a piece of paper. She leaned forward and then she stabbed Duo.

"'Ey! What are you doing stabbing me with a pen!" He hissed, rubbing his upper arm where she "unintentionally" stabbed him.

"That wasn't a pen, braided loser." She grinned maliciously. "That was an injection to turn you into something else. This way you won't get in my way with Heero." She said.

"Too bad he's on a miss…ion…" Duo grinned weakly at her as his knees began to wobble, his world soon fading to black as he caught the startled eyes of Relena.

" A mission?" She hissed, pulling her hair slightly as she stood over the crumbled form of pilot 02. "How am I suppose to find my Heero if he's off on some bloody mission?" She questioned and then stalked off angrily, Duo's form changing with convulsions.

Duo shivered slightly when he remembered the pain but was more soothed when he could still feel the comforting rubbing on his back from Heero's gentle hands. Who would have thought that a cold-blooded soldier could be so gentle? He looked up and caught the distant look in Heero's eyes and sighed, leaning further into the teenager's body.

He'd find a way to fix this, then he'd tell Heero right away, kill that old dude, find out why the hell J sent him to such a "loving" family in the first place, and then he'd get a good nights sleep. The slight motion of the vehicle was what sent Duo away to a peaceful sleep with these slightly happy, slightly disturbing thoughts.

TBC

Author's note:

Well, what do you all think? Will Duo get turned back? Will Relena find Heero? Will the foster father find out what's going on? Why did Dr. J send Heero there? Hopefully, all will be explained in due time. I made this chapter kind of long. It took me a while to write and now my shoulders are stiff. O.O Sigh…. Anyhow, tell me what y'all think of it. Reviews are very nice and make me happy. Thank you for those who did review!

Red Tail


	5. Not until it's over

The car ride held peace like Heero had never witnessed nor experienced before. The stronger presence of his foster mother made him feel like fighting again and he realized something.

It had been a month since he had been under custody with his foster parents and now, currently, parent. He realized that he would be free but he didn't want to leave his mother alone and unprotected in the world.

Heero looked out the window, the eyes of Duo-neko looking at him with slight worry. The cat could read his seemingly blank face expressions, something people even had trouble with. He had a growing feeling that there was more to the cat that it looked.

"Heero?" His mother questioned, her eyes not diverting to him from the road.

"Hn?" Heero said, turning as he turned away from the window to look at his mother and Duo-neko who was sitting curled up in the middle of the seats.

"Your mission is over." She commented and Heero could tell she was having an inner battle. The last time, the same thing had happened. She had told him to be careful and try not to die so that she could see him again and not in death.

"Yes, it is." Heero said as he lowered his eyes slightly and pulled up his knees and reclined the seat slightly. He looked at the roof of the car. "I got the information that J needed me to bring him."

His mother snorted and he glanced at her as she managed a slight glance at her son. "I think it's ridiculous that an old man like that forces you around, nearly killing you." She said with slight ferocity. "How could that man let you go into a household like…ours…" She whispered out the last part but Heero heard perfectly.

"He knew." He saw her jerked her head to look at him with wide eyes before looking back quickly at the road, finding an opening and pulling off on the side of the highway with blinkers flashing in warning.

"W-What?"

"He knew about what he did." Heero said quietly before turning to look out the window again, not wanting to meet the eyes of the neko and his mother. "J thought it might toughen me up or something."

"Bull." The woman seethed with refueled anger.

"I want you to be safe during the war," Heero said as she decided to pull off into the highway again and continue their journey. "I want you to stay at Dr. J's hideaway."

"Why?" His mother questioned lightly. "You know that I hate that man." She declared with an aura of defiance in her.

"I care about you." Heero whispered out, not tearing his gaze from the passing scenery for an instant. "I don't want you to get hurt in the crossfire or get captured by the enemy."

"What if you don't win the war?" That was always a question he sometimes questioned himself with; what if they didn't win. Then what would happen?

"Then we'll both die together." He turned away from the window, focusing all his energy on trying to make her stay with the old man. "Besides, with the missions that I get from J you'll know if I'm alive or not and sometimes I report back to the base."

His mother looked out the window, a thoughtful expression on her pleasant features.

"It'd be for your own good." Heero commented as he shifted slightly.

"All right." She said as they continued driving, Heero giving her the coordinates to their new destination on the colony.

"This is it?" His mother questioned with a look of awe on her face after they reached their destination. The elegant house cast a shadow over the two people and the cat.

"Yeah, imagine it like the Mafia." Heero commented as he made his way to the building and lightly knocked on the door in a sort of rhythm.

"Heero." A crackled voice said slightly as the door opened. Mimir, Heero's foster mother blinked at the old man. He was wearing odd looking glasses and didn't have one arm, which was replaced with a mechanical arm. He had a can in the real hand and wore a long lab trench coat.

"Dr. J." Heero said formally in an emotionless type of voice. Duo-neko meowed and then the doctor averted his gaze and let his eyes fall upon the cat looking at him with purple wise eyes.

"Well," The doctor chuckled. "If it isn't 02, Duo Maxwell." The doctor darkly laughed.

"MEOW!" Duo let out in mild surprise. How had the doctor known it was him?

"Duo?" Heero said slowly as he turned his face to look at the cat with hidden surprise in his prussian eyes.

"Yes, it looks to me as though someone used that new product out on line. It's temporary of course." The doctor commented idly as he ushered the two people and one human neko into the house.

Leading them down a hallway, he opened a door, which led to a giant laboratory room where Heero placed a disk involving all information on Dorothy Catolony, a person that might have shown threat to their plans.

"Can you reverse the process?" Mimir questioned softly as she picked up the human-neko and stroked his softly.

"Yes." Dr J said as he glnaced at her before looking at Heero.

"Why is she here?" He questioned the teenager somewhat sharply. "You could easily have made your way here without involoving others."

"I asked her to stay here."

"You WHAT." The doctor said sharply, tone implying severe pain to the teenager for acting outside of orders.

"OZ might find her and she may leak out information." Heero said, sending a glance to Mimir in forgiveness to her for making it sound like she might have betrayed him.

"Then why didn't you silence here?"

Heero didn't respond to this. He should have expected the old man to say something like that.

The doctor turned to look at the woman again and saw how she was somewhat pretty in repose. He sighed heavily. He had to be rough on the boy since the Barton Foundation might pull their funding for him any time if he didn't follow his orders.

"You," He lifted an old and withered finger to point at Mimir who looked at him without fear, which the old man recognized and took into note. "Can you do accounting and other work?" He questioned her.

She looked at him somewhat suspiciously, which brought a grin to the old man inwardly. She was smart, not some simpleton, which was good to know. "Yes, what I don't I can learn."

"Good." He said shortly with a somewhat tender note in his brash tone. "You can stay here than."

"Thank you." She whispered lightly, knowing that even if Heero didn't show it, he was thankful also.

"Now, how about I change that cat back to the real sly teenager he is?" J chortled lightly as he turned to face the cat and beckoning for it to follow him.

In front of a machine that had the engraved words of 'familiar' in them, Dr. J pressed a red button, which opened the door with a slight _psht _sound. "Hop in." The tone of voice left no room for arguing as Duo hopped lightly and gracefully into the looming machine.

"Be careful Duo." The neko heard from Heero who shocked him slightly with these words. A smile formed in his mind; perhaps Heero did love him. Then he heard Heero speak again, only to the doctor this time saying, "I'll kill you if he dies or gets screwed up over this."

"Yes, I know that very well." The doctor said with a light laugh. "I may be old, but I've been watching you for some time and know what he means to you." Silence met this and hopes rose even more in Duo's heart.

Sure he was cold and didn't respond, but Heero wasn't exactly the type of person to go prancing around declaring his feelings.

Smoke crept into the chamber that Duo was locked in and he took anything that came at him; he wasn't afraid of death.

Owari

Author's note:

Muahhaah! Well, what do y'all think of the last chapter in the story? : ) I'm so evil I laugh! (ha ha). Anyhow, I'm somewhat happy to add this to my short story collection. Perhaps if enough people like this story enough I'll add an epilogue with possibly some romance.


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